Sanitary attachment for telephones



Nov. 1s, 1924. l 1,516,039v D. l.. DAVIS y SANITARY ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES Filed Oct. 15, 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet l fm/5555.6 y DAV/0 1,.. @AV/5 Nov. '18, 1924. 1,516,039

D. L. DAVIS SANITARY ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES Filed oct. 15 1923 2 shwrs-snaar 2 Fatented Nov., 18, 1924.

UNITED STATES DAVID L. DAVIS, OF PORTLAND, OREGON.

SANITARY ATTACHMENT FOR TELEPHONES.

Application frled October 15, 1923. Serial No. 668,746.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, DAVID L. DAVIS citizen of the United States, residing ati iPortland, in the county of Multnomah and State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in a Sanitary Attachment for Telephones, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a sanitary appliance for instruments and the like used by the general public, so that the said instruments and the like will be eliminated as a source of means for spreading contagious diseases, and the primary object of the invention is the provision of a novel sanitary or disinfecting attachment for the mouth pieces of telephones and which is so arranged as to lie wholly out of the plane of the mouth-piece, when the telephone 1s in use, whereby a disinfectant appliance is provided, which will not hinder the transmitting of messages through the phone.

Another prime object of the present 1nvention is the provision of a cap carrying a disinfectant adapted to normally overlie the mouth-piece of a telephone, the cap being connected to the receiver hook in a novel manner, whereby when the hook lsmoved to its raised position upon the removing of a receiver therefrom, the said cap will be automatically moved away from the mouthpiece. a

A further prime object of the invention is the provision of a novel sanitary appliance for telephones embodying. a supporting member for connection with the head and standard of the phone, an operating lever pivotally connected to the support, a cap for the mouth-piece carrying a disinfectant and operated by the lever, and a slide bar connected with the support for reciprocatory movement operatively connecting the receiver hook with the lever, whereby upon movement of the hook the cap will be brought into and out of engagement with the, telephone mouth-piece.

A still further prime object of the invention is the provision of a sanitary attachment for telephones which can be vreadily and conveniently connected with an ordinary telephone by the ordinary layman, which is durable and efficient inl use, one that is simple and easy to manufacture and one which can be placed upon the market at a small cost.

vWith these and other objects in view, the

invention consists in the novel construction, arrangements and formation of parts, as will be hereinafter more specicially described, claimed and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the improved sanitary attachment showing the same connected to an ordinary telephone.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on the line 3 3 of Figure 1 illustrating the means for connecting the slide bar with the receiver hook.

Figure t is a fragmentary longitudinal section through a portion of the attachment, illustrating the means of connecting the disinfectant pad with the capfor the mouthpiece.

Figure 5 is a section taken on the line 5-5 of Figure 4, illustrating the pocket in which the disinfectant is adapted to be placed, and

Figure 6 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the appliance showing the support, which is adapted tobe connected to the upper end of the telephone and the slide` operating bar supported by said supporting member.

' 'Referring to the drawings in detail, wherein similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, the letter A generally indicates the improved telephone attachment and B a telephone with which the same can be associated. The telephone B is of 'the usual or any preferred construction, and as shown in the drawings, the saine is of the desktypev and embodies the usual standard 10 having the head 11 formed thereon which pivo-tally supports the transmitter 12. The transmitter 12 supports the ordinary type of mouth-piece 13. As in usual construction the transmitter 12 is connected with the eXtreme upper end of the head 11 by means of a pivot bolt 14. Projecting radially from one side of the standard 10 is the usual pivoted receiver hook 125 which of course iis adapted to support the receiver 16. The weight of the receiver 16 normally holds the hook in. a lowered position.

The improved attachment A consists essentially of asupporting member 20, the cap 3() for enclosing the mouth-piece 13 and the means 10 foil operatively connecting` the cap 3() with the receiver hook 15.

' type of disinfectant 33.

The supporting member comprises a hollow head 21 which is shaped to receive and closely embrace the upper end or head 11 of the standard 10 and this head 21 includes he parallel side walls 22 and the arcuate rear connecting` wall 23. The forward end of the head- 21 is left open to permit the same to be slid on the head or upper end 11 of the standard 10 and the side walls 22' are provided with struckout guide portions Q4 for receiving the terminals of the bolt 14 util ized for connecting the transmitter 12 with the said head or upper end 11 of the standard 10. (lne side wall f2.2 of the hollow head .21 is provided with a laterally extending arm 25 which in turn carries a depending leg 26, the opposite side longitudinal edges of which are provided with guides 27 and 23 for reciprocably supporting` a portion of the cap operating means 40, which will be hereinafter more: fully described. The eX- treme upper end of the arm 26 is provided with a laterally extending apertured lug Q9 which also forms a support for a portion of the said oper-ating` means 40.

The cap 3() comprises a disk-shaped plate 3l, of the same siz/.e as the outer end of the mouth-piece 13 and this plate 31 is adapted to completely enclose the said mouthpiece so as to prevent the entrance of dirt, dust and the like into the same. The plate 31 has struck-out therefrom an eccentrically disposed pocket 32 of substantially circular shape and this pocket 32` i-s adapted to receive any preferred The disinfectant can be in a liquid form and placed upon suitable raw cotton and the like to be placed in the pocket. Projecting radially from the lower end of the cap is a pivot arm 34, the extreme lower end of which carries a yoke for embracing and receiving a portion of the operating means 40, as will be hereinafter more fully described. This yoke has the outer edge thereof provided with a notch 3G for a purpose, which will also hereinafter more fully appear.

The operating means comprises an oper ating lever 41 which is of an arcuate configuration, so as to extend about the transmitter 12, as clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings. This lever 41 adjacent the rear end thereof is mounted upon the laterally extending pivot lug 29 by means of a pivot pin 42. The extreme rea-r end of the operating lever 41 beyond the pivot pin 42 is provided with a substantially disk-shaped head 43 which is adapted t-o fit in a socket 44 formed in one longitudinal edge of the slide bar which is reciprocably mounted in the guides 27 and 28, The lower end of this slide bar 45 is provided with a hook 46 for engaging about the receiver hook 15 and by this construction it can be seen that the receiver hook is operatively connected with the operating lever 41. The yoke 35 of the arm or pivot lug 34 embraces the extreme forward end of the lever 41 and this yoke 35 is connected to the lever by means of a pivot pin 47. A relatively stiff leaf spring 48 is carried by the lever and the forward free end thereof is adapted to iit into the notch 36 so as to normally hold the cap 30 in a predetermined position in relation to the lever 41 and for normally holding the cap in frictional tight engagement with the mouth-piece 13. lt is to lbe noted also at this point that the extreme lower end of the cap 30 is provided with an ear 38 which is adapted to engage the lower surface of the mouth-piece 13 for normally preventing ar cidental movement of the cap.

In applying the improved device to the telephone B the supporting portion 20 is slipped down over the head and the hook portion 46 Aof the slide bar 45 is swung over the receiver hook 15. The disk-shaped head 43 is then pushed into the socket 44 and the cap 30 positioned over the op'en end of the mouth-piece 13. The device is .now ready for operation, and it can be seen that when the receiver 16 is lifted off of the hook 15, that upon upward movement of the hook, that the slide bar 45 will be raised therewith, which in turn will operate the lever 41 and swing down the cap 31 away from and below the. mouthpiece 13. This will permit the person using the phone to speak directly into the mouthpiece and the attachment will not form any hindrance to the person speaking.

It is obvious that the disinfectant 33 contained in the cap will effectively keep the mouth-piece in a sanitary condition and thusprevent the spreading of diseases.

Changes in details may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of this invention.

What l claim as new is 1. The combination with a telephone including a supporting standard, a head, transmitter pivoted to the head, a mouth piece carried by the transmitter having an open end and la pivoted receiver hook proA jecting outwardly from the standard, of a. sanitary attachment for vthe telephone comprising a supporting member including a hollow head arranged to slip over the head of the standard, a guide arm carried by the head, a slide bar recip-rocably carried by the guide, means formed on the lower end of the slide bar for receiving the receiver hook for permitting synchro-nous movement of the slide bar and receiver hook, a disin fectant carrying capi arranged to normally overlie the open end of the mouthpiece, a. lever pivoted at `a point intermediate its ends to the supporting member, means connecting the forward end of the lever with the lower end of the cap, and means operatively connecting the lower end of the lever with the slide bar.

The combination with a telephone including a standard, a head formed on the standard, a transmitter, a pivot bolt connecting the transmitter with the head, a mouth-piece having an open end for the transmitter, a pivoted receiver hook pron ject-ing laterally of the standard, of la sanitary attachment for the telephone including a hollow head having parallel side walls arranged to slide over the upper end of the head of the standard, the side walls having struckout guides therein for receiving the terminals of the pivot bolt, a depending guide arm carried by the hollow head, a slide bar reciprocably mounted on the guide arm having a socket formed, in its upper end and a hook formed on its lower end for receiving the receiver hook, an arcuate lever pivoted at Ia point intermediate its ends to the guide arm and arranged to turn about the transmitter and to extend mouth-piece, a disk-shaped extension formed on the lever rearwardly of the pivot point and disposed in said socket, a cap pivotally connected to the forward end of the lever arranged to normally overlie the open end of the mouth piece, and spring means for norm-ally holding' the cap` in a predetermined position in relation to said lever.

3. As a. new article of manufacture, a sanitary telephone attachment comprising 'a hollow head arranged to receive the upper end of the telephone, a laterally projecting arm, a depending guide leg formed on the arm, a slide bar reciprocably mounted on the leg, means formed on the bar 'for engaging a receiver hook of a telephone, a lever secured to the leg, means connecting the inner end of the lever with the slide har, and a pivoted cap carried by the outer end of the lever.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID L. DAVIS. Witnesses GEO. A. HALL, MIRIAM L. DAvIs. 

